Morrisons sales nudged up during its third quarter, as the retailer focused on availability and loyalty across the business.
From 29 April to 28 July, sales were up 2% to almost £4bn as the supermarket said it made further progress across its three strategic pillars: commercial excellence, operations optimisation and new value creation.
It added an additional 50 products to its Aldi and Lidl price match, bringing its total goods to almost 300.
The grocery giant made a significant investment into its More Card in August and September, with the launch of a rolling programme of over 2,000 More Card prices as CEO Rami Baitiéh said “loyalty remains a key focus for us”.
“The current quarter will be a transformational one for the More Card with the introduction of a number of new elements,” the executive added.
Availability also improved by 2% year on year, aided by AI-powered availability cameras across over 400 stores.
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The update comes as Morrisons is set to wipe £370m off its debt pile following a 45-year ground rent deal with real investor Song Capital.
The private equity-backed supermarket has agreed for the investment firm to earn an income stream from 75 of its stores until 2069.
Baitiéh said: “Our focus on listening to customers, better availability and improving the Morrisons More Card has driven another quarter of good headway across the board.
“Like-for-like sales remained positive, the switching data improved year-on-year and although the market was noticeably softer in Q3, our relative position improved and our market share stabilised.”
He continued: “As inflation reduces we are seeing customers increasingly valuing Britishness, provenance, quality and the love of great value fresh food, all of which is in Morrisons heartland.
“Our price competitiveness improved further in the quarter as our Aldi and Lidl price match, More Card offers and everyday low prices combined to give customers increasing confidence in Morrisons great value.”
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